Day 55 - Bread or Brick? You Decide!

Mmmmm, what's that heavenly smell wafting from my kitchen? Well, I can tell you what it's not. In the past week, I've suddenly gone all Sally Homemaker and decided that Baking Bread is something I simply have to do. In the past, I've tackled quickbreads, muffins, and the occasional bread machine loaf, but now I'm ready to graduate to the Real Thing. Except. I can't get the damned thing to rise. Now, I'm tempted to blame it on bad yeast (entirely possible since heaven only knows how long it's been sitting around in the grocery store), but what if it's not? What if I've finally met my match? What if I am somehow genetically unable to bake bread?!

Now, when this madcap idea of pounding dough and kneading loaves first occurred to me, I found myself having to answer two questions. Q: Why not use a bread machine? A: Easy. I gave mine away last year in a fit of purging. But, beyond that, I'm after more than just an edible loaf of bread. There's an alchemy to this baking business, something that goes beyond the finished product. Q: Isn't it simpler just to go buy bread from the store? A: Hmmmm. That depends on what definition of simplicity we're going to use today. There is the very literal "simple" meaning fast and easy. So yes, in that sense, a store-bought loaf would be simpler. But then there's the "essential simple", the simple that demands that we give up the fast, the hurry, the burdensome, and focus on the elemental, the humble, and the plain. Amish Simplicity. So, in this case, dough pounded by hand is the simpler option.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a HILARIOUS look at attempt #3 - a "Rustic Italian Brick Bread"



Got mah ingredients together




Dead yeast?



Hmmmmmm.....

And the verdict? .....

It's a brick!